


Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

by Purple_ducky00



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 17:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_ducky00/pseuds/Purple_ducky00
Summary: Bucky's a businessman at an auction. Tony Stark is an actor, dating Tiberius Stone of Viastone. All is fun and games until Ty offers a date with Tony in the auction.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 152





	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Bucky leans back in his chair, bored out of his wits. Why must he go to these auctions again? Oh yea, because Nat told him all the proceeds went to a charity for battered women, and if he did not go, she would cause him bodily harm. But it was soo boring, and he would rather just write a check and get it over with. 

Everyone who was invited was instructed to bring something auctionable. People brought heirlooms, jewelry, art, animals… the list goes on and on. Bucky’s contribution to the auction was the latest version of his company’s smartphone – the SHIELD H14. 

Sitting next to him, Natasha uses his paddle to bid on a few pieces of jewelry, but Bucky is disinterested in the whole thing. 

“Is there an intermission at this thing?” He murmurs to Natasha, who levels a glare at him.

“Does having more money make you a jerk?” She hisses.

The host, Tiberius Stone, steps up after a new 85” TV was carted off the stage. “Well, folks, we are hitting intermission at this time. Please, take 15 minutes. When we come back, I'll have you bid on a date with my boyfriend, the famous Tony Stark!”

Immediately the spotlight flashes on the young actor, who does his best to school his appearance, but Bucky notices a flash of fear on his face. Bucky thinks nothing of it as he gets up to smoke a cigarette or two. 

+++++++++++

“When we come back, I'll have you bid on a date with my boyfriend, Tony Stark!” _**What**_!?!? Ty's announcement brings Tony out of his reverie. _**A date? Is Ty going to pimp me out?**_

Ty sits back down beside him. “Sweetheart, how does that sound?”

“Ty, what? Why didn’t you talk to me first?”

“Oh, come on, sugar. It’s for that charity you wanted. Can’t you just do this for me?” Ty turns on his puppy eyes.

Tony shifts uncomfortably. “You know I’m not comfortable with different people.”

This brings Ty’s face to a snarl. “Tony, we have watched your sex tapes with other people before. I’m pretty sure you'll be fine. It’s just a date.”

Tony just shrugs and internally resigns himself to his fate.

“Let me get you a drink, ok? Do you want a Scotch or a martini?”

"Scotch.” Comes Tony’s reply. Ty gets up and kisses him on the forehead. “Ok, sugar.”

Tony mulls this about in his head until Ty comes back with his Scotch. “Thanks,” He mumbles and takes a drink. Within 30 seconds, his drink is gone. **_Weird_**. He thinks. **_The room is spinning. I only had one drink. Maybe if I close my eyes for a few minutes…_**

+++++++++

“Thank you for coming back!” Tiberius crows. “First up, we are bidding a date with the one and only Tony Stark!”

“Before we start, isn’t prostitution illegal?” T’Challa raises his hand.

“Are you paying to have sex with him?” Ty asks innocently. “No, you are paying for a date. Whether or not you have sex with him is between you two. But I’d say, given who it is, your chances are high.” He winks and the room gives a chuckle.

Bucky rolls his eyes. So, basically prostitution. And Stark is ok with it? Natasha looks on impassively.

“Tony, come up here.” Stone calls to the man of the minute, who looks like he’s… sleeping? The woman beside him jostles him awake. He jolts up and is led to the stage.

Bucky frowns. Something just doesn’t seem right. Stark seems… dazed. The bidding starts at $10,000 and rises quickly. Bucky stares at Stark while the number rises. Finally, it’s down to Stane and Hammer battling out in the millions. Bucky sets his vodka down, stands up, and says “$100,000,000.00”

Everyone looks dazed. Natasha slaps him on the arm and hisses. “What. Are you. Doing?” Stane and Hammer look stumped; Stone’ grin grows wider and wider. 

“Sold! To Barnes! Come up and claim your date.” 

Bucky walks up to the stage to get Stark. Sure enough, the actor’s eyes are glazed over. His mouth is forming words, but no sound is coming out. Putting his arm under Stark’s armpits, Bucky leads him towards the door, signaling for Natasha. The room is silent until the trio leaves. 

“Nat, get Dr. Cho to my mansion ASAP. Stark’s been drugged.” Bucky orders. She nods silently, fingers texting quickly. Maximoff takes off to get as quickly as he can to the mansion.

+++++++++

Tony wakes with a headache, eyes opening to stare at a stark white ceiling. **_What did I do last night? Am I in the hospital?_**

A pleasant male voice replies. “No, you’re at my house.”

Tony sits up quickly, but the movement causes all the adrenaline to rush to his head, making him dizzy.

“Whoa! Whoa! Be careful!” The voice’s face comes into view. “You were drugged pretty badly last night.”

_ **Oh. Ty. Last night’s auction. Will this guy be mad that I don’t remember him?** _

“I’m not mad. In fact, I’m surprised you remember anything.” 

_ **Dang. I got stuck with a mind reader. Just my luck.** _

The voice chuckles. “No you’re just talking out loud.”

“So, what did we do last night?” Tony winces, words sounding weird. Usually the buyer or whatever left him there on the bed. They didn’t stay to talk to him like this creep.

“I brought you home, called my doctor, and once we were able to flush the drugs out of your system, let you sleep.” 

“How much did you pay?”

“…It doesn’t matter.” 

Tony snorts. “You paid a butt load of money, and you don’t even get sex from me? C’mon, let me do something.”

“Listen. You are a very attractive man, let me set that straight. But I paid that amount so that we didn’t have someone take advantage of you. I saw your face when Stone offered you up. Actually, without sounding like a terrible person, I don’t know how to actually thank you. I wanted to leave, and you gave me the perfect opportunity.”

“Well, thank you.” Tony replies. “But if you want me to…”

The door opens. A female voice says, “T’Challa is here to see you.”

“I’ll be up in a minute.” The male voice replies. Then it gets closer. “Rest some more. I have a meeting to deal with, and then I’ll come back down. I have a proposition for you.”

**_Ok he wants his sex now_**. Ok. “Sounds good.” Tony agrees. 

+++++++++++++

“Challa, buddy. How are you?” Bucky gives the man a hug.

“Bucky, I am leaving tomorrow and wanted to visit you before I go. But can you answer this question? Why did you buy the date last night? I thought you had morals!”

“I do. The guy was drugged. I brought him back here, had Dr. Cho look over him, then let him sleep in medical. I didn’t touch him. Nat can attest.” Bucky is a little hurt T’Challa would question him, but he understands. The tabloid rags are bad for business. 

T’Challa visibly sighs with relief. “I believe you. I just needed to hear it from you.” He pulls up a picture on his phone. It’s the front of a PEOPLE magazine. The picture was of Bucky leading Stark out. The title reads “$100,000! Stark Really IS Most Eligible Bachelor!” There are a few other magazines with much less friendly titles.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Bucky lays a hand on his shoulder. “I will deal with it.”

“You are a good man, Barnes. I’m sorry to have to cut this visit short, but I must go.” The two men shake hands, and T’Challa leaves.

Bucky heaves a sigh and flops on the couch. Natasha, who has been standing in the doorway, smirks. “I told you in so many words to leave well enough alone.”

“Nat. I _had_ to do something. I couldn’t let him get…” He shudders. “Some of those businessmen are savages.”

“And don’t forget the fact that you think he’s super hot.” She intones. 

“Shut up. Oh crap. Steve’s calling.” He swipes the green circle. “What’s up?”

“As your PR head, I would like to know when you decide to cause a scandal.” Steve yells in his ear.

“Geez! It wasn’t like I planned it!”

“Well, now I – _me, Bucky, me_ – have to find out a way to make you come out looking like not a total creep!” 

“It’s not me I care about. They can say whatever crap they want about me. I just don’t want them painting Stark in a bad light.” 

Steve growls. “I am on my way. Don’t you move an inch. Or I will kill you, ok?”

Wanda sticks her head in. “Mr. Barnes, Sam Wilson is on the phone.” 

“Argh! Ok send it over.” His phone rings. “What birdbrain?” Sam Wilson is Bucky’s best friend.

“Um… why did my sister send me a story about you buying Tony Stark for the night? Did the press learn of your crush, or did you seriously just snap?”

“Well, spending all my time with you just ought to do that.”

“Shut up, man. I’m coming over. Surprised Nat hasn’t beat the crap out of you.” 

“Screw you, bro. I was doing a good deed!” Bucky argues as Steve bustles in the door. 

“Ok. Ok. Hang up that phone and tell me exactly how that was a good deed.” He demands. 

Bucky sighs loudly. “Stark. Was. Drugged. I saved him from getting raped by some old creep like Stane.”

“Ok. Ok. What you need to do is get Stark to come out and say that, and then you and Natasha verify that, ok?”

“I’m not forcing Stark to do anything, ok?” Bucky interrupts. “I will, however, talk to him and see what he thinks. He’ll probably want to talk to his publicist as well.”

++++++++++++++++

Tony wakes up again with much less of a headache. He sits up slowly, looking for his phone. It’s on the bedside table. “JARVIS?”

_Yes, Sir? _JARVIS is his AI that he made before changing his career to acting to spite his dad. 

“Give me the news and get Pepper on the phone, please.”

JARVIS pulls up several articles as the line rings for Pepper. Oof. These articles are scathing. He loves it. Hopefully Barnes isn’t too angry. _**Holy crap! 100mil? Seriously? **_

“Tony? Where are you? I have been trying…” Oh great. Pep's in full-rant mode. 

“Pep. Pepper. The light of my life. The only reason I am still alive. I am ok. Nothing happened last night, thankfully.” 

“Tony. Where are you? I’ll send Happy over asap.”

“I. Don’t know. Barnes residence, I’m guessing?”

Footsteps sound in the hall. Then there’s a knock at the door, and SHIELD owner and CEO sticks his head in. “Hi, are you good to talk?”

He shifts in the bed. “Yea sure.”

Barnes sits beside his bed. His eye catches Tony’s phone and grimaces. “So I guess you've seen the tabloids.”

“Yea.”

“Ok, so my publicist wants me to go out and say that nothing happened, but he says you need to be on board, too. I told him I wasn’t making you go out to say anything.”

“Ok… so just to be clear… nothing _did_ happen last night.”

“Of course nothing happened!” Barnes eyes widen with shock. “What do you take me for?” When Tony shrugs barely conspicuously, his eyes go from shocked to sad to anger. “You mean people have…?”

Tony isn’t sure what Barnes is going at. Didn’t he _pay_ $100,000 to have sex with him? “You sure? I’m not drugged now. We can…” Tony reaches for Barnes’s crotch. 

“Stop. No. I don’t want it. I’m not paying you for sex. I do, however, have a proposition for you. If you ever want out of that scene – it can’t be healthy – I will help you out. Give you whatever money you need. I’m just worried about you.”

**_Who does this guy think he is? Captain America? Yeesh_**. “I don’t need your money nor your pity.” Tony tells him shortly. “Now, if you want me to tell the press that nothing happened, I will, but I’d like to leave now. My assistant is sending my chauffeur. If you could hand me my pants…” Barnes wordlessly hands him the pants. 

A half hour later, Tony is talking to Pepper about the whole thing. 

“And you got mad at him? Tony, he saved you from getting gang-banged and you know it!”

“I know, Pep, I know. I just… why did he have to make me a charity case? I’m one of the highest paid actors in the world!”

“I don’t know, but I think he just wanted to help. So what do you want to release to the press?”

Tony sighs. “I think that I’m going to… First, I don’t have any contracts/movie commitments, right?” Pepper checks her phone, then shakes her head. “I’m gonna take a break for a while, maybe even retire from acting. I think we should also do a thing on date-rape drugs, raise some awareness. I don’t know… it’s happened so many times to me that I kind of thought nothing of it until Barnes made me realize how messed up it is, you know?”

Pepper’s eyes soften. “You know you have to cut all ties with Stone, right?”

“Yes.” Tony steels himself. “He was a jerk anyways.”

+++++++++++++

Bucky’s phone chirps. _Look at Stark’s Instagram_. From Steve.

Bucky opens his app. He searches Tony Stark. The latest post was a wallpaper with the words, “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road.” The caption is a long paragraph, stating that Stark is stepping away from the scene, retiring from acting, and taking a long vacation. He explains that the spotlight was exhausting and caused him to make some stupid mistakes, and get this! He _tagged_ Tiberius Stone! Bucky chuckles. The caption ends with “I've finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.* Thank you for your support and I love you all. Tony Stark.

Bucky is… impressed. Tony Stark, the party boy of the decade, is giving it all up! Or so he says. Let’s see what happens after his vacation. He keeps scrolling. Stark’s next post is a IGTV video on the harmfulness of date-rape drugs. There’s an interview with him on this issue. He goes on to say that he had been given them at a young age, and being conditioned that way, he never thought anything of it until Barnes showed him human decency. The caption warns his followers about them, advises how to look for them. He then writes, “Don’t ask me, ask the experts! See the link in my bio! XOXO Tony Stark.”

Bucky figures that Tony doesn’t need his approval so he keeps quiet on social media. The next day, he receives a gift basket from Pepper Potts. The card attached reads. “Thank you, Mr. Barnes for protecting Mr. Stark. He may be bad at emotions, but I want you to know that he appreciates what you did for him.” 

Bucky smiles. He doesn’t care about the flack he takes as long as he was able to help someone in need

**Author's Note:**

> * Lyrics from Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." If you're a fan of pop/rock and haven't heard it, check it out!
> 
> There may or may not be a sequel for this where Tony and Bucky ACTUALLY get together, based on how well this goes.


End file.
